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Trashman
It came up during the latest post-run discussions of my group:

Does one need a rigger or is it enough just to have someone who can drive like a madman?
To elaborate. Riggers in planes and helicopters are (almost) a reality in our dear quaint old fifth world. Granted. Seems reasonable viz. the microseconds you have in jets to decide whether to release the rocket or do the pacifist bit.
Now, riggers on streets are an entirely different kettle of fish. Depending on style of play, your group might not be exclusively stuck in urban free fire zones where a rigger might have to handle street code, on-board HMGs and that nifty SAM on top all at the same time. At least, I goad my group towards something one might call low-tech (hey, they're from the Barrens, they think spurs are SOTA). So my feeling is riggers basically come into their own mainly as getaway-drivers. They have to know their way around town, they have to be socially adaptively insane and they need to talk about their cars like that sad git in Full Metal Jacket did about his rifle 'Charlene'. The need for VCR never comes into it.
So you have sensors for that 360 degrees vista. Fine. And is there any space left for the runners?
So you (I quote one of the latest novels) can feel the rain on your hood. What's the use for that?
So your body movements are translated into car movements (Rigger III). Fat chance. Never known anybody who was better on all fours than on two legs.
I could go on.
There's obviously a reason for having riggers the way they are in SR. Samurai are Samurai. Nerds have become ultra-cool deckers, Magic-users are superhuman anyway. And then only include some poor slot who sits behind the wheel? Of course nobody wants to play that type.

What are your feelings?
(And don't burn me for the above. I'm putting this forward BECAUSE I want to be able to review my ideas about riggers)
Cray74
I'm not sure what to say.

Very rarely do I play in a group with all the standard "classes" filled out. Riggers and deckers tend to be the "classes" most often absent, at least in terms of having some strut around claiming to be a "decker" or "rigger," but there's other gaps in the team roster. It looks my dorf (below) will soon be in a group with a physad and a trog samurai, but nothing else.

On the other hand, the PCs are usually bizarre hybrids (when you approach things from an archetype point of view) and fill in the weak spots by having secondary skills. For example, my dorf "decker," a gruff Charisma 2 dorf stereotype, is the "face" of the group with 9 starting contacts, etiquette, negotiation, and good reputation 2. In another campaign, my street samurai-merc-tank-thing is the team's decker and electronics specialist. Naturally, they both stink at their secondary skills compared to one of the archetypes in SR3, but compared to the other PCs, they're highly trained specialists. (The number of PCs who cant drive a car or pick a maglock is astounding...)

So, I don't know that any given archetype/class is needed to fill out a running team. Certainly having a rigger or decker is useful at times, but other times, the group just avoids the runs where they're critical (or subcontracts an NPC).
Kagetenshi
QUOTE (Trashman @ Nov 29 2004, 08:19 AM)
There's obviously a reason for having riggers the way they are in SR. Samurai are Samurai. Nerds have become ultra-cool deckers, Magic-users are superhuman anyway. And then only include some poor slot who sits behind the wheel? Of course nobody wants to play that type.

What are your feelings?

Burn.

The VCR is highly needed. If you never knew someone who did better on four legs than two, you never met a Rigger. They're up there with Deckers for surveillance, they outclass Streetsams for raw combat ability by orders of magnitude, and they have as good a chance at fighting off a mage as any Mundane (more, if you count the ability to detect said mage from kilometers away, if you can identify him).

They've got their limitations, certainly, but Riggers are a type that, in terms of growth, are limited only by cash. If anything, they're overpowered.

~J
toturi
Riggers are the runner artillery. They may not be real good up close and personal but they sure can wax your ass from real far away.
Kagetenshi
-3 to TN to hit with SEG for LOS. Better bonus than Smartlink with more dice and fewer negative mods.

~J
CoalHeart
Up close and personal, I've seen riggers tear Sams up on the battle field.

Behold the Monowire buzzaw VTOL minidrone.

It was horrible, too frightening to consider. Did damage to everything below it within 2 meters. Counterweights on the bottoms of the wires, combined with centrifugal force kept the strings taut. Plus it also had a retraction and wire cutting system to shorten the wires or cut them to prevent snagging on very durable material.
toturi
Actually, there are no Canon rules for such a vehicular weapon system. You could house rule it so that it is powerful, but you could also house rule such that it isn't.
Tarantula
Behold the steel lynx with some EnfieldAS-7/D shotguns. (I think thats the mod for the 50rnd drum, right?)
Trashman
Yes, well, how to put it to you gentlemen (and -women and -others)?...

I was thinking in terms of roleplaying and consistency of background. I don't think looking at the rules (and their omissions!) gives any REASON for having a character type dubbed rigger on its very own. I'd rather agree with Cray74 in that it appears more feasible to mix types and not adhere to gospel. At least, that's the way with our 'rigger' who has no VCR or whatsit, is a former merc and can simply drive quite well.

Having some geek sitting back for hours on end doing and saying nothing until he can recite a list of uberdeath drone business is not my idea of roleplaying. That's why I was asking. The gizmos are fine by themselves (I'd be the first one to admit that - and build an episode specifically for their use) but they don't do anything for roleplaying.
Cray74
QUOTE (Tarantula)
Behold the steel lynx with some EnfieldAS-7/D shotguns. (I think thats the mod for the 50rnd drum, right?)

If you can get away with milgrade drones and vehicle-mounted weaponry, go for it.
Cray74
QUOTE (Trashman)
I'd rather agree with Cray74 in that it appears more feasible to mix types and not adhere to gospel. At least, that's the way with our 'rigger' who has no VCR or whatsit, is a former merc and can simply drive quite well.

If you just need a chaffeur/getaway rigger, consider a robotic pilot (rating 3-4) with some of the pilot upgrades in Rigger 3, like fuzzy logic and neural network upgrades. (Plus assorted concealment abilities, including alternate license plates and color changing paint jobs). My merc's sedan is often the smartest member of the team. The dice it can throw at spotting threats or just driving makes the rest of the team seem like morons and 80-year old grannies behind the wheel. You can depend on it to carry out complicated instructions and receive updates by phone.

jezryaldar
QUOTE
I was thinking in terms of roleplaying and consistency of background. I don't think looking at the rules (and their omissions!) gives any REASON for having a character type dubbed rigger on its very own. I'd rather agree with Cray74 in that it appears more feasible to mix types and not adhere to gospel. At least, that's the way with our 'rigger' who has no VCR or whatsit, is a former merc and can simply drive quite well.


I personally believe this comes down to how you create the background of the character and how that works into the system. I think you could say the same thing for any character type. It is all up to the player, and the background.

As a side note, I was re reading the Matrix suppliment. I think the same principle applies to riggers as to the matrix. You could get by without it, but deckers (riggers) are kings of the matrix (freeways)....

It is whatever fits best to your group and your style of GM'ing. spin.gif
Tarantula
QUOTE (Trashman)
I was thinking in terms of roleplaying and consistency of background. I don't think looking at the rules (and their omissions!) gives any REASON for having a character type dubbed rigger on its very own. I'd rather agree with Cray74 in that it appears more feasible to mix types and not adhere to gospel. At least, that's the way with our 'rigger' who has no VCR or whatsit, is a former merc and can simply drive quite well.

Go through and compare someone "who can drive quite well" against a rigger with a VCR. Look at how much better the rigger is.
Toxic_Waste
You should always have the best possible getaway driver. Which isn't to say he has to be a PC. Adding other qualities, like being a face or having some magic/combat abilities, would ensure the rigger actually has a life beyond driving fast when people are shooting up the car.
Ol' Scratch
I really hate VCRs.

I just hate everything about them. They lack style. It just turns you a comatose guy slumped in the driver's seat. Beyond that, it completely undermines a mundane's ability to drive well -- despite the fact that there are *plenty* of experienced drivers today that can do some amazing things behind a wheel. But nope, with the advent of a VCR, only riggers who have one installed can perform the really amazing maneuvers. Without a Control Pool, you can't even think about performing a dodge maneuver, for instance. Nope, you have to have a vehicle specially modified with a rigger black box and someone with a 2-5 Essence implant installed to do anything like that.

And even if you have reflexes augmented to the moon, you're still only going to get one action -- maybe two actions if you're really lucky and have a high natural Reaction score -- per initiative while piloting a vehicle.

I love the concept of a rigger -- someone who has the talent and the hardware to be a superior driver. I hate the execution, because as it stands, they're the *only ones* who can be even a good driver. At best a regular wheelman can get you around town and maybe run over a few innocent bystandards.... but as soon as a rigger shows up, you might as not even bother trying to escape since you have no shot at succeeding, even if you have a Cars skill in the teens.

It would be so easy to make it more sane and playable, too, while maintaining the rigger's superiority over all things vehicular.

All you would need to do is give everyone a Control Pool (equal to their Reaction, just like normal) and allow everyone to use their normal Initiative while driving. Datajacks would still grant a -1 TN and +1 Reaction while used. This actually makes it worth investing in a vehicular skill.

Then, you modify the rules for a VCR so that they only grant a -1 TN bonus per level and a +1 (or maybe even +2) bonus to Control Pool and Reaction for purposes of piloting only. Reduce their costs and Essence requirements dramatically (since they'll still need to buy initiative enhancers if they want to be a bad-ass pilot), and voila... riggers will still dominate the scene, but they won't be the only ones who can work wonders behind the wheel.

But... as it stands... I really hate VCRs.
Jason Farlander
QUOTE (Doctor Funkenstein)
I really hate VCRs.

Well then you'll probably be happy to hear that they're starting to be phased out by electronics retailers.
Cray74
QUOTE (Doctor Funkenstein @ Nov 29 2004, 06:07 PM)
Nope, you have to have a vehicle specially modified with a rigger black box and someone with a 2-5 Essence implant installed to do anything like that.

As I recall pricing (I don't look at control rigs often), a beta grade VCR 1, while not common, is still pretty cheap (48000 nuyen, IIRC) and "only" 1.2 essence.

Other points taken, though.
Crusher Bob
Hmm, if your dikoted ally spirit is in vehicle form and you are riding it and using the sense link power, do you get a control pool? love.gif

The other problem I have with riggers is that the abilities tend to be either overpowering or useless, depending on the situation:

---
Passenger: Crap! the cops are chasing us, what do we do?

Rigger: don't worry, our rigger bycycle will trun circles around them
---

Runner: Well it's off to the pub for a few pints, everyone into the riggermobile.

Rigger: Bolloks

Kagetenshi
QUOTE (Trashman)
Having some geek sitting back for hours on end doing and saying nothing until he can recite a list of uberdeath drone business is not my idea of roleplaying. That's why I was asking. The gizmos are fine by themselves (I'd be the first one to admit that - and build an episode specifically for their use) but they don't do anything for roleplaying.

Having someone sit on the team and sleep until he can step to the front of the team and waste a security guard battalion isn't my idea of roleplaying either. You can create straw riggers all you want, but there is a lot more that a good Rigger can be doing. Surveillance, small drones, larger drones going in as part of the team, coordination… the possibilities are vast.

~J
lodestar
Ok here we go in defence of the poor rigger.

First lets look at where most riggers would come form in the 6th world. A good portion of them are going to be exmilitary men - helo pilots, naval riggers, fixed wing pilots etc. The second class they'll be from will be heavy industry -truck drivers, mine operators, construction equipment operators, etc and the third being civil aviation be it corp or private. Most SSTs and Semi-ballistics will have riggers running them simply because in all of these cases having mind and machhine acting as one makes for efficiency, safety, and in the case of the military, combat effectiveness.

These backgrounds give the rigger a very diverse set of contacts, some might be very well travelled compared to your street mage or typical ganger. Need a contact in Denver? chances are your rigger will know someone or at least know a friend of a friend. It also means a rigger will probably have contacts in both legal and illegal aquiring of items especially rare and specific ones - Anything from gun runners, to knowing when the stuffershack gets its shipments of amber-gel. Smugglers love to have a rigger on their payroll. If the only contact your rigger has is his mechanic, then you're poorly underusing him. Since a rigger usually spends most on his high starting resources it gives him a ton to spend on contacts. DMV employees, border guards, mil spec contacts all are far more reasonable for a rigger than a street sam. What this amounts to is there should be plenty of role playing material behind any rigger especially when it comes to any leg work.

Secondly lets look at the heart of the rigger the VCR. Does the VCR give someone that much advantage over a really good driver? Not when it comes to regular driving. In fact when it comes to motorcycles, a good biker with amped up reflexes and bike skill will leave a similarly equipped rigger in the dust. The main advantage to the VCR is it lets a rigger "jumped in" take full advantage of all a vehicle's goodies especially if the vehicle has a good sensor package - few other runners will have the advantages of thermographic, low light, image magnification, sound magnification, radar, sonar and ultrasound all the time. Plus, with a few Mps the rigger can choose to record all of these when he pleases as well. Very useful if you need to blackmail someone later.

Thirdly most teams underuse the rigger's other ability: Command and Control. When a team is operating the rigger is usually in his get-away/command vehicle. If you're rigger is just sitting on his hands waiting for the team to get out with the loot then he's not earning his pay. Assuming your team has some way to communicate with each other the rigger should be monitoring it as well as any other important com channels, say I dunno maybe the Lonestar one? Using the vehicle as your comm center provides plenty of advantages. It can increase its flux to increase comm range, use its ECM and ECCM abilities to jam enemy and keep clear friendly ones, maybe even give the bad guys a wild goose to chase. Now add the riggers drones into the equation (and oddly enough I haven't heard much mention of drones above) now the team has eyes everywhere. Every exit can be covered, every team member can have overwatch. Remember a drone can safely be sitting off just within visual range of its magnified senses so the rigger can warn the team when the heat is on its way. Someone getting away? I don't know too many metahumans that can out run a rotodrone - which I might add can follow at a safe distance so the suspect might not even know they're followed. Now since our rigger is in charge of this entire network ideally he should be the one who's in charge of the team's tactical planning. He's the only one who probably knows where everyone is at any given time, your eye in the sky and he never blinks.

If you're having no fun playing a rigger, you just aren't being creative enough.
Ol' Scratch
QUOTE
Secondly lets look at the heart of the rigger the VCR. Does the VCR give someone that much advantage over a really good driver?

Yes, it does. Even over standard driving maneuvers (such as escaping pursuit). Control Pool, Reaction, Initiative, and a target number modifier are all drastic improvements.
Kagetenshi
Just to second what the Doc said, Control Pool, Reaction, Initiative, and a Target Number modifier are all drastic improvements. Any one individually would give a decent improvement, especially the pool and TN mod. All together and I have no idea where you're getting the idea that an unrigged biker can hope to keep up.

~J
Eyeless Blond
What really bothers me about riggers is how much the driving rules seem to artificially cater to them over everyone else. Init boosters like wired reflexes give you a boost to physical Reaction and Initiative... except for the moment you grasp a steering wheel, unless you're a rigger. Combat Pool helps you aim weaponry and allows you a dodge test when the bullets are flying at you... except the moment you grasp a steering wheel, unless you're a rigger and get a "Control Pool" which does the same thing. Similarly, the VCR takes up a huge amount of Essence and cash, but give you a host of benefits which entirely disappear when not behind the wheel. It seems to me that the vehicle rules intend on pigeonholing riggers--people with VCRs--into that little vehicle box, and pigeonholing everyone else out, and the more I look at it the more it smacks of D&D-esque character class system.

I guess what I'm saying is I agree with Funk. Make a VCR 1 cost .4 Essence and 12,000 nuyen.gif , the VCR 2 cost 1.0 Essence and 40,000 nuyen.gif , and the VCR 3 cost 2.0 Essence and 150,000 nuyen.gif . Remove VCR initiative boosts, but allow physical boosts to init to work in vehicles while driving, and allow everyone to have their own Control Pool equal to their Reaction. This way it's not completely stupid to have a vehicle skill and not have a VCR, but rigger characters are still worthwhile.
Kagetenshi
That's not entirely true, you can use combat pool for vehicle-weapon attacks. Of course, this means that Riggers are even more sick. My decently optimized Rigger has a total of twenty-three pool dice to throw around in combat. Sure, ten of those can only be used for attack tests, but that's about as many as other archetypes get in pool period.

I have to disagree with you, Eyeless, on the changes there. There's no reason why physical initiative improvements should help while rigged. The better change would be to allow said improvements, or some lesser version of said improvements, while driving physically.

~J
Lindt
Im thinking there is a misconception here. If you have W3, you still drive a car with the controls as W3. What you loose over a rigger with a VCR is 1) reduction to TN's, 2) control pool, 3) acess onboard equipment (sensors, guns, ect).

Now, If Im wrong, I feel as thats what the problem is.
GrinderTheTroll
QUOTE (Eyeless Blond)
I guess what I'm saying is I agree with Funk. Make a VCR 1 cost .4 Essence and 12,000 nuyen.gif , the VCR 2 cost 1.0 Essence and 40,000 nuyen.gif , and the VCR 3 cost 2.0 Essence and 150,000 nuyen.gif . Remove VCR initiative boosts, but allow physical boosts to init to work in vehicles while driving, and allow everyone to have their own Control Pool equal to their Reaction. This way it's not completely stupid to have a vehicle skill and not have a VCR, but rigger characters are still worthwhile.

Yeah simply adding a VCR elimiates your ability to use most Initiative boosting cyberware. The only ones that seem to work are Synaptic Accelerator and Enhanced Reaction, both are either restricted or have a heavy price tag.

It's oviously a balance issue, but rightly stated, soon as you touch a steering wheel, your six-mil-samurai becomes only marginally better than some other non-VCR chump behind the wheel.

I suppose using the proposed changes would bring Riggers inline with Deckers, considering all you really need to do that is a datajack (VCR) and a cyberdeck (your vehicle).

All in all, it's not a bad idea, would definitely get the rest of the group more excited about getting behind the wheel not to mention help the fact you get NO pool for trying to dodge or soak damage while driving.
Ol' Scratch
Note that my proposal (while I failed to mention it) included the idea that riggers would no longer be slumped corpses sitting in the driver's seat. They'd still be piloting, but their cybernetic enhancements would allow them to perform some seriously wicked maneuvers compared to what anyone else can do.

The thing I hate most about riggers is the comatose thing. Bleh!
Kagetenshi
I personally love the comatose thing. Same with deckers. Different strokes.

~J
Tarantula
QUOTE (Doctor Funkenstein)
The thing I hate most about riggers is the comatose thing. Bleh!

In that case, deckers should need a padded room with sensors in it that'll move they floor around as they navigate the matrix. OH! And we should just completely get rid of the RAS Override cyberware, because its the entire cause of the comatose thing. I mean, I want my rigger to be twitching and running in place while hes driving, cause I mean, why not exhaust myself physically as well as mentally while I'm rigging.
mmu1
If I were God, I'd change two things about the way Riggers work...

1. Make all reaction-enhancing systems use the same type of basic rules. Either everyone with reaction enhancement gets a control pool, or no one does. (it makes no sense to me that someone controlling a car or a drone using a VCR3 has much better control over it than someone using a hugely more expensive WR3 setup has over his own flesh and blood body.) Things like TN mods, bonus dice, etc. could and should still vary depending on the type of reaction enhancement you had. That way, if you have Wired Reflexes, you can do sick things with a car because of your great reaction time, but you still don't get to feel the road the way a rigger does.

2. Stop treating drones like vehicles for damage purposes, but at the same time, make them much cheaper to repair - that way, there can be a middle ground between "so heavily armored you can't scratch it without AV rounds or ATGMs" and "50K:nuyen: pile of scrap".
Lantzer
Note that any rigger who spends his active time controlling a drone network, handling communications, and listening in for trouble doesn't have to have a single vehicle skill, or a VCR. Why? He's too busy in captain's chair mode to waste time 'jumping in' to any one drone. What he does need is a datajack, good commo and R/C gear, nice drones, and really good electronics, computer, surveillance, and tactics skills. Note that a well equipped character can do the 'comm central' gig while infiltrating with the team, but his reactions tend to be slowed by the fact that he has to keep himself out of trouble too. He'll be distracted, most likely (+1 modifier for captain's chair, IIRC). On the other hand, it's nice to have an electronics and tactics wiz handy on site with the team.

Not to say some driving skills wouldn't be handy.... to get the command post out of harm's way, or to drive the team away when the 'comm central' character is the one least likely to bleed on the dashboard.
Lantzer
As examples of interesting hybrid characters:

Doc Salvage: Security Rigger/Combat Decker/Street Doc.
Minions: Hermetic Mage/Drone Rigger.

One thing is going to be true: any 'rigger' character will suck up cash like no tomorrow, Because being a rigger is about having toys. And toys cost.
Kagetenshi
If a Rigger has a VCR-3 and a good natural Reaction, they can expect three actions a turn. That means they can jump into a drone and take a look around in two seconds. Jumping in, while not always optimal, tends to have serious advantages.

Drop it down to VCR-1 and mediocre Reaction, and you start taking three to six seconds to check a drone, but I haven't seen many like that.

One good combination with a Rigger is a Decker, especially if you slap a satellite dish on a vehicle.

~J
Bigity
Hmm, that just gave me an idea for a question..

I know that deckers cannot access "sealed" systems unless they can access a trunk or terminal and put in a tap.

But...can access to those taps be remote? Say, your rigger and decker are in the command van, and the penetration team breaks into the target, and places a remove dataline tap onto the basement trunk?
ES_Riddle
QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
Just to second what the Doc said, Control Pool, Reaction, Initiative, and a Target Number modifier are all drastic improvements. Any one individually would give a decent improvement, especially the pool and TN mod. All together and I have no idea where you're getting the idea that an unrigged biker can hope to keep up.

~J

Because you can't rig bikes. They have a sensor rating of 0, so they're a no-go. On the other hand, a bike-like drone is going to run down your go-ganger with the bike skill of 12 and give him a terminal case of road rash.
Kagetenshi
Yes. Potentially, they could bridge a connection from an unconnected system to a connected system, or just add in a wireless access point of some variety. I actually had a set of drones rigged up to do exactly that (a bunch of Body 1 rotodrones with laser relays)

And you can add sensors to bikes. I will point out that most normal vehicles start with Sensors 0 too nyahnyah.gif

~J
Ol' Scratch
QUOTE
Because you can't rig bikes.

You most certainly can. It just takes a Rigger Adaptation, Sensors 1+, and Motorbike Gyro-Stabilization to do it. The only difference between bikes and other vehicles is that it costs more due to the required Gyro-Stbailizer.
ES_Riddle
That's what I get for posting about riggers when I don't have Rigger 3.

On another note-

Does anyone here actually have their riggers sit in the driver's seat when they rig the vehicle they're in? Mine usually do it from someplace in the back that isn't as likely to get you picked off as the "driver" and lets your buddies roll down the windows and do their drive-by from both sides.
Kagetenshi
My current Rigger sits in the driver's seat because her van is decently heavily armored and she wants to prevent anyone we happen to be holding in the back from seeing her. I had another character, though, who drove from the passenger's seat via datajack port when combat looked like it might start.

~J
mfb
psh. my rigger is never in the car at all. she sits in the back a very safe, highly-armored transport miles away from the action, and directs her drones via satellite.
Tarantula
I had one rigger of mine (a dwarf) strap himself into the trunk for rigging. Add to the fact that the car had no manual controls, he was set.

With my good natured GM, he had a punk one day try to carjack the car while they were on a run. I was jumped into a drone at the time, and didn't notice the punk until he had climbed into the car, and closed the door. I promptly locked the doors, and drove off a ways while warning him through the speaker that when the car stops, he is to get out, otherwise, he will die. I stopped the car, he took off running, at which point the GM told me I noticed that the seat was damp. When my team piled into the car with some pursuit, I didn't have time to tell the unlucky mage what they sat in.
Kagetenshi
What I would have done is let him drive for a while, then all of a sudden set the windows to full tint from the inside and start veering off at maximum speed. Pull all the driving tricks you can.

Basically, make it a personal competition to get the punk to die of a heart attack.

~J
Tarantula
QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
What I would have done is let him drive for a while, then all of a sudden set the windows to full tint from the inside and start veering off at maximum speed. Pull all the driving tricks you can.

Basically, make it a personal competition to get the punk to die of a heart attack.

~J

You forgot there was no manual controls in the car. Nor was there a datajack other than in the trunk. He couldn't have had any control over the car no matter what he did.
Kagetenshi
True. Ok, I still say you should have taken him for the ride of his life with zero visibility smile.gif

~J
Tarantula
Is it scarier when you can't see anything and can just feel the car swerving around? Or if the windshield un-tints just in time for you to spot the semi headed right for you?
Cain
Trashman: As others here have mentioned, you're missing the whole world of versatility that drones bring to the rigger arsenal. The CnC rigger is one of the most powerful things to have on your side in a fight. Also, armored drones are the 800-lb gorillas of Shadowrun combat-- the LS Strato-9 is the only way you can start game with a MMG; and an Ares Guardian drone loading Great Dragon ATGM's will make a mess of anything, while remaining impervious to midrange weapons!

Riggers are more than getaway drivers. With the advent of CCSS, a rigger may become your best infiltration specialist. In combat, they're your heavy artillery. For recon, riggers with miniblimps can't be beat. In short, a properly-equipped rigger can be an entire backup runner team!
Kagetenshi
QUOTE (Tarantula)
Is it scarier when you can't see anything and can just feel the car swerving around? Or if the windshield un-tints just in time for you to spot the semi headed right for you?

Why choose, when you can do both! biggrin.gif

~J
mfb
indeed. that's what my rigger does. two LS-9s for medium support, two Lynxes for hardcore asskicking, a custom rotary-wing UAV for guarding her meat, a cheap truck for moving the team, miniblimps for spotting and retrans, and three kitty-cat drones with internal speakers for interacting with the outside world.
DrJest
Although it's been a while since I read it, Walter Jon Williams' Hardwired is the genre source for all things rigger (and a surprising amount of the other cyberpunk stuff we take for granted - Gibson didn't invent as much as people give him credit for, but I digress). The hero in that book jacks into his vehicle, and yes, that gives him an immense advantage in that he feels the vehicle like his body and can operate it in much the same way. That's the reason for control pool, to me - that piloting the vehicle is as natural as running around. Frankly, I don't see anything about increased reflexes in there. I'd go with the idea to make a VCR a minor piece of cyberware, and any extra reaction/initiative dependent on other reflex systems. It's a good idea, and I shall be stealing it wholesale.
mmu1
QUOTE (DrJest)
That's the reason for control pool, to me - that piloting the vehicle is as natural as running around.

If it's as natural as running around, then why don't you get a control pool when you actually are running around?

It's a piece of rules that makes no sense and throws any idea of game balance out the window.

It's idiotic that someone who amputated most of his body, plugged what was left into a drone with a life support system, and drove it around using VCR3 would have both a combat pool and a control pool to draw on, but someone with four cyberlimbs, a cybertorso and WR3 only would get combat pool. What's the real difference, at that point, other than shitty game mechanics?
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